Automated snow removal tracking system

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the invention provide a tracking system for a snow removal remote unit and crew. The tracking system of the invention is configured to interface with a GPS system to determine the location of a remote unit, and more particularly, to determine if the remote unit is operating at a removal location. If the removal unit is operating at a removal location, the tracking system of the invention is configured to track the time expended at the removal location conducting removal operations. Once the removal operations are completed at the removal location, the tracking system of the invention is configured to transmit the tracking data to a base location where the information may be used for accounting, billing, invoicing, and/or scheduling operations via transmission or interfacing of the data to other software processes configured to conduct these processes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Embodiments of the invention generally relate to an apparatus and methodfor automating tracking processes for a snow removal business.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the snow removal business, there are several challenges associatedwith tracking what properties have been cleared, what properties havebeen billed, what services have been provided at particular properties,what properties are under weather conditions that will necessitateattention in the near future, etc. These challenges have a direct impacton the profitability of snow removal businesses, as the time andmanpower it takes to monitor and control these issues has an associatedcost, and this cost is often times a significant portion of theoperating budget for a snow removal business.

Conventionally, snow removal companies track and control these issuesthrough a manual paper and pencil driven operation. For example,scheduling of which properties are to be cleared is done by one or morestaff members in an office that attempt to coordinate which removalunits are assigned to which jobs on a paper schedule. One the propertiesare scheduled, the removal units are sent out to do the work, however,the office staff generally does not know if all of the properties werecleared until much later, often times not until the next day, and theremoval crews work several locations before returning to the office toconfirm that the work has been completed. This process opens up thepossibility that a property can be overlooked by either the schedulingstaff or the removal crew, and more importantly, that the oversightmight not be discovered until the next day. In this situation, a clientwill almost certainly be displeased and likely to seek another removalprovider.

Staff members are also charged with reconciling what services have beenprovided at the particular locations after the removal unit has returnedto the office or base and communicated the services provided to thestaff. In a paper and pencil driven operation, the reconciling processgenerally involves collecting work order forms that were filled out onsite by the removal crews, and entering the data from these forms intothe billing system for invoicing.

Inasmuch as work orders are conventionally filled out on site by theremoval crews and then transferred to the office staff for invoicing,there are inherent inaccuracies that are injected into the process. Forexample, since the work order paperwork is filled out on site by theremoval crew, it is often subject to weather conditions, e.g., snow andice, which causes illegible work orders. Additionally, the work orderinformation must be transferred to the staff before it is actuallyrecorded in the system that generates the invoices, and when a removalcrew is assigned to several work locations before returning to theoffice, as is often times the case, the work orders are frequently lostor damaged before they are ever transferred to the office staff. Furtherstill, even when the work orders are transferred to the office staff,there is still a possibility that the information on the work order willnot be correctly entered into the billing or invoicing system throughhuman error or illegible items in the work orders.

Another challenge associated with conventional processes is the onsitetracking of the services provided. More particularly, a typical removalprocess for a property is multifaceted, i.e., the removal processincludes plowing, shoveling, salting, etc., and these processes aregenerally conducted by a crew of workers. As such, the work conducted byeach worker must be tracked and accounted for so that the snow removalcompany can properly invoice the property owner for the servicesprovided. The number of workers, tasks, and working conditions lend toerrors and/or omissions in the tracking process, which equates to a lossof revenue for the snow removal company.

In view of the above noted challenges associated with conventionalprocesses, there is a need for an automated snow removal tracking systemthat is capable of tracking the services provided at each property.There is further a need for a tracking system that is capable ofinterfacing with automated billing and/or invoicing systems for a snowremoval company.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention generally provide an automated snow removaltracking system. The tracking system of the invention is globalpositioning satellite (GPS) based, e.g., GPS based technology is used todetermine when a removal crew arrives at a specific property, what workis conducted at the property, when the removal crew leaves the property,etc. This information is also used to verify scheduling of crews forparticular properties, to track services provided at the particularproperties, and to support billing and invoicing for each property.

Embodiments of the invention provide a tracking system for a snowremoval remote unit and crew. The tracking system of the invention isconfigured to interface with a GPS system to determine the location of aremote unit, and more particularly, to determine if the remote unit isoperating at a removal location. If the removal unit is operating at aremoval location, the tracking system of the invention is configured totrack the time expended at the removal location conducting removaloperations. Once the removal operations are completed at the removallocation, the tracking system of the invention is configured to transmitthe tracking data to a base location where the information may be usedfor accounting, billing, invoicing, and/or scheduling operations viatransmission or interfacing of the data to other software processesconfigured to conduct these processes.

Embodiments of the invention may further provide an automated snowremoval tracking system. The automated tracking system generallyincludes a GPS receiver positioned on a snow removal unit, amicroprocessor unit positioned on the snow removal unit and being incommunication with the GPS receiver, and a data transmission andreceiver unit positioned on the snow removal unit and being incommunication with the microprocessor unit. The system is set up suchthat the microprocessor unit is configured to receive GPS positionrepresentative data from the GPS receiver, determine if the snow removalunit is located at a removal location, record working or billing timeinformation when the snow removal unit is located at the removallocation, and transmit the working or billing time information to a baselocation through the data transmission and receiver unit.

Embodiments of the invention may further provide a method for tracking asnow removal unit. The method includes defining a geographical fencearound a removal location, determining a current location of a removalunit through GPS location determination, comparing the determinedcurrent location to the defined geographical fence to determine if theremoval unit is within the geographical fence, starting a working timewhen the removal unit is determined to be within the geographical fence,stopping the working time when the removal unit is determined to beoutside of the geographical fence, and transmitting data representativeof the working time to a base location.

Embodiments of the invention may further provide an automated method fortracking the working time of a snow removal unit. The automated methodgenerally includes using a GPS location device to determine when aremoval unit is located on a removal property, tracking a time periodthe removal unit spends at the removal property, transmitting the timeperiod spent at the removal property to a base location via a cellularsignal, generating a billing invoice for the removal property at thebase location, and transmitting a new property location needing removalservices to the removal unit via a cellular signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the presentinvention are attained can be understood in detail, a more particulardescription of the invention, briefly summarized above and describedherein, may be had by reference to the embodiments thereof, which areillustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, thatthe appended drawings illustrate only typical and/or exemplaryembodiments of the invention, and are therefore, not intended to beconsidered limiting of the scope of the invention, as the invention mayadmit to other equally effective embodiments not specificallyillustrated or discussed herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates an overall generic view of an exemplary automatedsnow removal tracking system of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a plan view of a snow removal location.

FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of an exemplary remote tracking unit ofthe invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a general schematic of exemplary control circuitryfor the remote tracking unit of the invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a general schematic of exemplary control circuitryfor a base station of the snow removal tracking system of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Embodiments of the invention generally provide an automated snow removaltracking system. The tracking system of the invention has a GPSbackbone, i.e., the tracking system of the invention uses GPS technologyto support the tracking functions of the invention. The GPS technologyis generally used to determine when a snow removal crew arrives at aspecific property to begin snow removal work, the duration and/or typeof snow removal work being conducted at the property, the time when thesnow removal crew leaves the property where the snow removal work hasbeen completed, the time associated with travel between snow removallocations, the routes used for traveling between the respective snowremoval locations, and/or any other location based operations that maybe determined through GPS based technology. The GPS data/information isalso used to verify scheduling of crews for particular properties, totrack services provided at the particular properties, and to interfacewith billing and invoicing programs to facilitate efficient and accuratebilling for each property serviced.

FIG. 1 illustrates an overall generic view of an exemplary automatedsnow removal tracking system 100 of the invention. The tracking system100 generally includes a mobile unit 104, which may be a snow plow unit,for example. The mobile unit is generally equipped with a GPS receiver110 that is configured to receive positioning signals from a GPSsatellite system 102, as is known in the art. The mobile unit 104 mayalso include a transmission system 112 configured to communicate with abase station 106 via a base station transmission station 114. Thetransmission system 112 may be a radio communication system, a cellularcommunication system, or another system capable of bidirectionalcommunication for voice and/or data. The exemplary automated snowremoval tracking system 100 also includes a remote sensor 108 that isconfigured to measure predetermined parameters at a remote location andtransmit data representative of the parameters to the base location 106and/or the mobile unit 104.

In operation, generally speaking, the mobile unit 104 receives signalsfrom the GPS satellite 102 that allow a processing unit (not shown, butfurther discussed herein) onboard the remote unit 104 to determine thelocation of the remote unit. The location determination is used todetermine if the remote unit is on a job site, i.e., the perimetercoordinates of each job site may be mapped and stored in a memory of theprocessor (not shown) for the remote unit, so that the remote unit 104can independently determine if it is on a job site through the GPSlocation information compared to the stored job site perimeterinformation. The location determination can then be used to determinethe amount of working or billing time each remote unit 104 spends at aparticular job site, e.g., the working or billing time determinationwould start when the remote unit 104 arrives at the job site location,and the working or billing time would end when the remote unit 104leaves the job site location. The time that the remote unit 104 spendsat a specific job site location can then be used to generate an invoiceor to accomplish other accounting or record keeping functions for thejob site location.

The working or billing time determination for the remote unit 104 mayinclude determining if the remote unit 104 is on site, but not working.For example, the remote unit 104 may be on site, but the unit may be onbreak, conducting repairs, and/or conducting ancillary activities notrelated to the billing for the remote unit 104, such as manuallyshoveling, etc. As such, the processing unit for the remote unit 104 maybe configured to determine if the remote unit 104 is working at anyparticular time. This determination may be done through a locationcomparison and timing operation. For example, the processing unit maymonitor the location information for the remote unit 104, and if thelocation of the remote unit 104 does not change over a predeterminedperiod of time, such as about 5 minutes, for example, the processingunit may determine that the remote unit 104 is not moving or notcurrently working. In this situation it may be determined that the workor billing time corresponding to the activity related to the remote unit104 (plowing or salting, for example) should be suspended until theremote unit 104 begins moving/working again.

Similar GPS, motion, and/or processor driven systems may be used totrack the activity of operations related to the remote unit 104. Forexample, in the instance where remote unit 104 is a mobile snow plow orsalting unit, additional location or motion sensing devices may be usedto determine when salt, sand, etc. is being applied. In this situation,the sensors may be used to start a timer that corresponds with theactive operation (salting, sanding, etc.) to determine a working orbilling time for the particular operation. In another embodiment of theinvention, a separate sensor or indicator may be used to determine whena manual shoveling operation is being conducted aside from the plowingoperations being conducted by the remote unit 104. In similar fashion toprevious embodiments of the invention, the sensor may be used todetermine a start and stop time for the shoveling operation. In anotherembodiment of the invention, each member of the removal crew associatedwith the remote unit 104 may wear an article of clothing (such as avest) that has a GPS sensor embedded in the clothing. These GPS sensorsmay be used to determine when each crew member is working on particulartasks, etc. In another embodiment of the invention, each snow removaltool (shovels, snow throwers or blowers, salters, sanders, etc.) may beequipped with a GPS or motion sensor configured to determine or indicatewhen the respective tools are in use through a location and/or timedetermination comparison (as described above). The “in use” timedeterminations noted above may be conducted by the remote unit 104processor, or optionally, calculated on board the respective tools.Regardless of the calculation location, embodiments of the presentinvention contemplate that the “in use” time data will eventually betransmitted to the base location 104 so that the information may be usedto generate an invoice for the property owner. The information may betransmitted by radio, cellular, or through a hard wired connection,depending upon the particular embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a plan view of a snow removal location 200. Theremoval location 200 generally includes a building or other structure210 having a sidewalk 204 that connects the building or structure 210 toa parking lot 202. The parking lot is generally connected to a street208 that allows for access to the parking lot 202. Generally speaking,one or more of the sensors 108 may be positioned at various locationsaround the removal location 200. The sensors 108 may be positioned, forexample, in the parking lot 202 pavement, embedded in the sidewalk 204,or at another location proximate the removal location 200. The overallpurpose of the sensors 108 may be to record weather related data, suchas temperature, moisture, accumulation of snow, ice, etc. Theinformation recorded by the sensors 108 may be saved locally in thesensors 108, or alternatively, the sensors 108 may be equipped with atransmitter that is configured to transmit the information recorded bythe sensor 108 to either the remote unit 104, the base location 106, oranother location or device configured to receive and store the weatherrelated information from the sensors 108. The information gathered bythe sensors 108 may be used to automatically determine when removal workis needed at the removal location 200, as the sensor may determine whensnow accumulation is happening or may determine when moisture is presentand the temperature facilitates ice formation that would necessitate iceremoval or salting. In one embodiment of the invention, the sensors 108may record weather information and transmit the weather information tothe base location 106, where snow and/or ice removal services may bescheduled in accordance with the sensor data recorded. This embodimentof the invention facilitates and increases the efficiency of scheduling,as locations that do not need removal services can be skipped, andlocations that need immediate attention of removal crews can beprioritized in the scheduling process.

The removal location 200 also includes a geo fence 206. The geo fence206 generally represents GPS data coordinates that define a perimeter orboundary of the removal location 200. The perimeter boundary isdetermined to be a size, shape, location, and/or coordinates thatsurround the portions of the removal location 200 that will require snowremoval services. For example, the geo fence 206 will generally surroundthe parking lot 202 and the sidewalk 204, as these are locations thatwill generally require snow or ice removal. The geo fence 206 generallyrepresents a boundary that when the remote unit 104 crosses theboundary, the remote unit 104 is considered to be working at the removallocation 200. For example, when the remote unit 104 travels to theremoval location 200, the remote unit 104 will cross the geo fence 206boundary when the remote unit 104 exits the street 208 and enters theparking lot 202 of the removal location 200. When the geo fence 206 iscrossed, the working or billing time discussed above for the remote unit104 may be started, as the remote unit 104 is generally considered to beplowing or removing snow when it enters the removal location 202.Similarly, in embodiments of the invention were the individual crewmembers or the snow removal tools are equipped with a GPS or motiondetecting sensor, when the sensor is within the geo fence 206 anddetects that the worker or implement is doing removal tasks, the work orbilling time for the worker or implement may be started for tracking oraccounting purposes.

Returning to the discussion of the hardware related to the automatedsnow removal tracking system of the invention, FIG. 3 illustrates afront view of an exemplary remote tracking unit 300 of the inventionthat may be positioned in the remote unit 104 (or alternatively, on theperson on one of the removal crew in the form of a hand heldcomputer/GPS unit). The tracking unit 300 may include a display screen302, one or more input or selection buttons 304, and one or more visualindicators 306. The remote tracking unit is generally in communicationwith a GPS antenna/receiver 110 (see FIG. 1) and is configured toreceive GPS coordinate related signals from a GPS satellite 102. The GPScoordinate related signals are processed by the remote tracking unit 300to determine the exact location of the remote tracking unit 300 (withinthe tolerances allowed by the GPS coordinate related data). The exactdetermined location of the remote unit 300 may then be used to determinethe above mentioned functions, i.e., is the remote tracking unit 300within the geo fence 206, and if so, then start the billing or workingtime duration. Similar processes may be used to determine the time andbilling information noted above with respect to the snow removaloperations and the work conducted by the individual removal crewmembers, e.g., if a snow shovel is at a removal location (within a geofence 206) and is moving in a manner consistent with a removal process,then it may be determined that the snow shovel is being used in aremoval process and a billing time related to shoveling snow with theshovel may be tracked.

FIG. 4 illustrates a general schematic of exemplary control circuitry400 for an exemplary remote tracking unit 300 of the invention. Thecontrol circuitry 400 generally includes a central processing unit (CPU)402, which may be a microprocessor controller or any other electroniccontroller configured to process and/or execute a control program. Thecontrol circuitry further includes a power supply 404, which may be abattery or other source of power configured to run a microprocessor-typecontroller. A memory unit 408 may also be in communication with the CPU402, and the memory unit 408 may be configured to contain programinstructions that the CPU 402 may use to conduct the control processesof the invention, and further, the memory unit 408 may be used to storedata generated or received by the CPU 402 while executing a program ordata representing user inputs for the program. The CPU 402 may also bein communication with a plurality of display units or buttons 410(similar to elements 302, 304, and 206 from FIG. 3) that may be used torelay information generated or received by the CPU 402 to the user andreceive inputs from the user. The CPU 402 may also be in communicationwith a plurality of sensors 406, such as sensors that indicate withoperations are being conducted by the remote unit 104 (plowing,shoveling, salting, sanding, etc.). The CPU 402 is also generally incommunication with a transmitter/receiver unit 412 that may be incommunication with one or more of a GPS satellite location determinationinterface 414, a radio communication interface 416, and/or a cellularcommunication interface 418. The transmitter/receiver unit 412 generallyoperations in cooperation with the interfaces 414, 416, 418 tocommunicate with devices external to the control circuitry 400. Forexample, unit 412 and cooperating components may be used to communicatewith sensors 108, base location 106 (both shown in FIG. 1), otherremoval units 104, other handheld units 300, or other computers or datasources that may be useful in a snow removal operation. One suchexemplary data source may be a weather prediction or tracking database,such as the National Weather Service database, so that the user of theremote unit 300 may have instantaneous access to weather data to helpwith planning of removal service. The control circuitry 400, or variantsthereof, may be used to track movement and location of specific snowremoval implements, such as snow shovels, etc. This may be accomplishedby implanting the circuitry 400 within the particular implement so thatwhen the implement is being used, a signal may be sent to one of theremote unit 300 or the base station 106 to track the time that theimplement is being used for billing purposes.

FIG. 5 illustrates a general schematic of an exemplary control circuitry500 for the base station 106 of the snow removal tracking system of theinvention. The control circuitry generally includes a CPU 502 that is incommunication with a memory 506 and/or database 504. The memory 506and/or database 504 are generally configured to contain programinstructions and data related to the tracking functions of theinvention. The CPU 502 is also in communication with atransmitter/receiver 508 that is generally configured to receive signalsfrom the remote units 104 and any other removal devices associated withthe snow removal process. The CPU 502 is also in communication with amapping module 516 that is configured to correlate geographicalinformation related to removal properties to GPS data and to transmitthis information to the remote units 104 via the transmitter 508. TheCPU 502 is also in communication with a plurality of software processingmodules or components, including, but not limited to a scheduling module510, an accounting module 512, and an oversight module 514. Thescheduling module may, for example, comprise a software process orroutine configured to determine what properties need removal servicesand what crews are assigned to each of the respective properties toinsure that every property is covered and that no property is assignedmultiple crews unnecessarily. The accounting module 512, for example,may be configured to receive information from the rem9te units 104representative of the time spent at a specific removal property and thetypes of removal services provided. The accounting module 512 may thentake this information and generate an invoice for the property ownerthat is representative of the services provided at the location.Additionally, the accounting module 512 may be configured to generatepayroll information for the removal crew that worked the propertythrough predetermined algorithms that use the information received fromthe remote unit 104. The oversight module 514, for example, may be amodule that tracks each removal crew, unit, and implement. This modulemay be used as a final oversight to prevent double booking of crews atlocations, missing of a removal location, rescheduling of crews atspecific locations when another crew is delayed or otherwise unable tomeet a scheduled removal project, correct invoicing, and correct payrollprocessing.

In operation, embodiments of the invention are configured to track theservices provided by a plurality of removal crews working at a pluralityof removal locations, wherein each crew may be providing several typesof removal services. Additionally, the tracking functions of the presentinvention are generally automated, e.g., most of the functionality ofthe tracking system of the invention requires no user interaction tofunction. Further, the tracking system of the invention is configured tointerface with an accounting program to allow for automated generationof invoices representative of the removal services provided, whicheliminates the need for manual tracking and invoicing.

Generally, the first operational step of the invention is to determineif a removal unit 104 is operating inside a geo fence 206. Thisdetermination generally comprises comparing a GPS location calculated bya remote processing unit 300 to a stored location representing the geofence 206. The stored location may generally be predetermined through asite visit, e.g., when a client signs up for removal service, arepresentative of the removal company may survey the removal location200 to determine the boundaries of the geo fence 206. The survey resultsrepresenting the boundaries for the removal location 200 may be storedin the base location database 504 and transmitted to the remote units300 when needed. Thus, when a removal unit 104 (a snow plow unit,typically) enters the property (removal location 200), the unit 104crosses the geo fence 206 and enters the property. When the removal unit104 crosses the geo fence 206, the processing unit 300 compares thecurrent location of the removal unit 104 (which is obtained from GPSdata representative of the current location of the removal unit, asdiscussed above) to the predetermined boundary of the geo fence 206 todetermine if the removal unit 104 is within the geo fence 206. If theremoval unit 104 is determined to be within the geo fence 206, then theprocessing unit 300 may start a working timer or billing timerconfigured to track the time the removal unit 104 spends at the removallocation 200 doing snow plow operations.

Inasmuch as the working or billing time calculation for the removal unit104 is generally determined to start when a removal unit 104 enters thegeo fence 206 boundary and to stop when the unit 104 leaves the geofence 206 boundary, it is generally assumed that every minute of timethe removal unit 104 spends within the geo fence 206 is working orbilling time. However, there are instances where this may not be thecase. For example, in a situation where the driver of the removal unit104 is on a break, where the driver is conducting maintenance operationson the removal unit 104, or any other situation where the removal unit104 is stationary while within the geo fence 206, the processing unit300 generally determines that the entire time that the removal unit 104is within the geo fence is billing or working time.

One embodiment of the present invention is configured to address thisissue by configuring the remote units 300 to determine if the remoteunit 104 is working at predetermined intervals while the removal unit104 is within the geo fence 206. More particularly, the remote unit 300may be configured to continually monitor the position of the removalunit 104 and to compare the monitored position to the most recentdetermined position. If the processing unit 300 makes this comparisonand determines that the removal unit 104 has not changed position aftera predetermined period of time, then the remote unit 300 may beconfigured to stop the billing or working time. The billing or workingtime may be restarted when next sequence of location comparisonsdetermines that the removal unit 104 has changed position and is stillwithin the boundary of the geo fence 206. The predetermined period oftime between the location determinations and comparisons may be set toany duration, for example, between about 1 minute and about 15 minutes,depending upon the billing parameters for the removal company.

In another embodiment of the invention, various snow removal implementsor articles may be included in the automated tracking system of theinvention. For example, removal implements such as snow shovels, hoes,ice removal tools or scrapers, etc. may be equipped with sensors andcircuits that allow the working or billing time of the specificimplements to also be tracked. For example, each individual implementmay be equipped with a GPS detector and/or a motion detector and a meansfor transmitting information to the remote unit processor 300 or thebase location 106. The combination of one or more of these detectors maybe used to determine when the specific implement is being used forremoval work. The implement may simply transmit location and/or motioninformation back to the remote processing unit 300 for determination ofa working or billing time, or alternatively, the implement may itselfinclude a processing unit similar to unit 300 that is capable oftransmitting information back to the base location 106. Otherembodiments of the invention utilize this same concept to track theworking time of removal crew members, i.e., each member of the removalcrew may carry an electronic unit that includes the aforementioned GPSand/or motion sensors configured to determine working and/or billingtime of the individual crew member.

In another embodiment of the invention, the remote unit 104 includes aplurality of sensors that are in communication with the remoteprocessing unit 300. The sensors, for example, may be configured todetermine if the remote unit 104 is conducting operations such assalting, sanding, plowing, etc. These sensors may be positioned atvarious locations on the remote unit 104, i.e., on a slide valve thatallows the salt or sand to be transmitted to a spreading apparatus, onthe lift mechanism that raises and lowers a snow plow blade, etc.Regardless of the type of sensor or the positioning of the sensor, thepurpose of the sensor(s) is to communicate with the processing unit 300so that the removal actions being conducted by the remote unit 104 maybe tracked and recorded.

In each of the above described embodiments, when the remote unit 104enters the geo fence 206, the working or billing time for the remoteunit 104 is started. Embodiments of the invention also contemplate thatwhen the remote unit 104 leaves the boundaries defined by the geo fence206, that the determination or tracking of the working or billing timeis stopped. The termination of the working or billing time may beautomatically stopped for each person, unit, implement, etc. that isbeing tracked for the removal crew that is working at the specificremoval location. Additionally, once the remote unit leave the removallocation, the remote processing unit 300 may transmit datarepresentative working or billing time for each unit 104, removal crewmember, removal implement, sensor, etc. to the base location 104. Whenthe information is received at the base location 106, the informationmay be interfaced or communicated to a software package configured toconduct accounting or billing operations for the removal company. Thesesoftware packages may then generate invoices, billing statements,accounting reports, schedule reports, etc. as desired by the user.

In another embodiment of the invention, the data transmitted back to thebase station 106 after a remote unit 104 has completed removaloperations at a particular location may be used to determine the nextlocation that the remote unit 104 may be assigned to. More particularly,when the remote unit 104 completes the removal tasks at a first removallocation and the tracking data is transmitted to the base location 106,a scheduling software package may also be activated. The schedulingsoftware may generally be configured to determine what the next removallocation will be for the removal unit 104. The determination of the nextremoval location may be determined through a plurality of parametersincluding the proximity of the next location to the removal unit 104,the removal requirements of the location and the capability of theremoval unit 104 (the capability of the unit 104 may be predeterminedand stored in the scheduling software package), and other parametersrelevant to scheduling of crews for snow removal processes. Once thenext removal location has been determined by the software, the nextremoval location may be transmitted to the remote unit 104. The nextlocation may then be displayed to the crew leader on the display of theprocessing unit 300. Further, inasmuch as the remote unit is GPSequipped, the remote processing unit 300 may also determine the mostefficient route to the next removal location and display directionsrepresentative thereof to the driver of the remote unit 104. Thisfeature of the invention obviously prevents scheduling errors orduplication of removal crews at a particular location.

While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention,other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised withoutdeparting from the basic scope thereof, where the scope thereof isdetermined by the claims that follow.

1. An automated snow removal tracking system, comprising: a GPS receiverpositioned on a snow removal unit; a microprocessor unit positioned onthe snow removal unit and being in communication with the GPS receiver;and a data transmission and receiver unit positioned on the snow removalunit and being in communication with the microprocessor unit, whereinthe microprocessor unit is configured to conduct the following steps:receiving GPS position representative data from the GPS receiver;determining if the snow removal unit is located at a removal location;recording working or billing time information when the snow removal unitis located at the removal location; and transmitting the working orbilling time information to a base location through the datatransmission and receiver unit.
 2. The snow removal tracking system ofclaim 1, wherein the microprocessor unit comprises a handheld computer.3. The snow removal tracking system of claim 1, wherein the datatransmission and receiver unit comprise at least one of a cellularcommunication device and a radio communication device.
 4. The snowremoval tracking system of claim 2, wherein the handheld computerfurther comprises a memory device configured to contain a softwareprogram that controls the operation of the tracking system.
 5. The snowremoval tracking system of claim 1, wherein determining if the snowremoval unit is located at a removal location comprises: determining acurrent location from GPS position representative data; and comparingthe current location to a database of predetermined removal locations todetermine if the current location is within a predetermined removallocation.
 6. The snow removal tracking system of claim 6, wherein thepredetermined removal location is defined by a geo fence.
 7. The snowremoval tracking system of claim 6, wherein the geo fence comprises aplurality of predetermined location points that define a geographicalboundary around the removal location.
 8. The snow removal trackingsystem of claim 1, further comprising generating at least one ofbilling, accounting, invoicing, and scheduling information at the baselocation from the working or billing time information received.
 9. Amethod for tracking a snow removal unit, comprising: defining ageographical fence around a removal location; determining a currentlocation of a removal unit through GPS location determination; comparingthe determined current location to the defined geographical fence todetermine if the removal unit is within the geographical fence; startinga working time when the removal unit is determined to be within thegeographical fence; stopping the working time when the removal unit isdetermined to be outside of the geographical fence; and transmittingdata representative of the working time to a base location from theremoval unit.
 10. The method for tracking the snow removal unit of claim9, wherein defining a geographical fence around a removal locationcomprises surveying the removal location and determining coordinatesthat represent a boundary of the removal location.
 11. The method fortracking the snow removal unit of claim 9, wherein determining a currentlocation of a removal unit comprises receiving a GPS locationrepresentation signal from a GPS satellite and determining the currentlocation from the GPS representation signal through GPS locationprocessing.
 12. The method for tracking the snow removal unit of claim9, wherein starting and stopping the working time further comprisestracking the working time of the removal unit.
 13. The method fortracking the snow removal unit of claim 12, wherein tracking the workingtime of the removal unit further comprises determining if the removalunit is working during the entire time the removal unit is within thegeographical fence and stopping the working time when the removal unitis within the geographical fence but not working.
 14. The method fortracking the snow removal unit of claim 9, wherein transmitting datarepresentative of the working time to a base location comprisestransmitting the data via at least one of a cellular and a radio signal.15. The method for tracking the snow removal unit of claim 9, whereintransmitting data representative of the working time to a base locationcomprises hard wire connecting the removal unit to the base location.16. The method for tracking the snow removal unit of claim 14, furthercomprising using the data representative of the working time to generateat least one of invoices, accounting reports, and schedulinginformation.
 17. The method for tracking the snow removal unit of claim9, further comprising directing the removal unit to a new removallocation when the removal unit leaves the geographical fence andtransmits the working time data to the base location.
 18. The method fortracking the snow removal unit of claim 9, further comprising trackingthe usage of individual snow removal implements.
 19. The method fortracking the snow removal unit of claim 18, further comprisingtransmitting data representative of the usage of the individualimplements to at least one of the removal unit and the base location.20. An automated method for tracking the working time of a snow removalunit, comprising: using a GPS location device to determine when aremoval unit is located on a removal property; tracking a time periodthe removal unit spends at the removal property; transmitting the timeperiod spent at the removal property to a base location via a cellularsignal; generating a billing invoice for the removal property at thebase location; and transmitting a new property location needing removalservices to the removal unit via a cellular signal.